A Land divided in Three
by EternalNightmare
Summary: EdWinry, EdSciezska. The Military is split between Mustang and Archer leaving the Government in a weakened state. Taking advantage of the situation a mysterious alchemist has gathered support in the scared public. The let the war begin!
1. Chapter 1

Full Metal Alchemist: A land divided in three

Chapter 1: Full Metals mission

Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist, i am receiving no money on this, purely fun here.

A/N: First chapter here! Well if anyone likes this story I'll continue it, doubt that will happen though. This is alternate Universe, humunculi are not around...well with the exception of Lust who will be a good guy...consider the rest dead i guess.

Romance: Ed/Winry, Ed/Sciezska (First one ever that i know of!) possible others as well

Summary: The Military is split between Mustang and Archer leaving the Government in a weakened state. Taking advantage of the situation a mysterious alchemist has gathered support in the scared public. The let the war begin!

* * *

He moved with an inhuman grace, moving through the battlefield with the blade extension transmuted on his arm. craters filled the war zone as shells impacted with earth throwing pieces of dirt high above the soldiers of both sides. Just narrowly escaping a bullet while it grazed his AutoMail arm the alchemist dashed forward ducking before another shot could take an attempt on his life and quickly slashing through the poor fighters skin, his clothes narrowly avoiding stains from the spurt of blood.

He had no time to feel guilt over such an action as 3 soldiers in red uniforms stopped and drew there rifles towards him. Ed grinned as they were bowled over by a suit of armor there shots going up into the air in surprise "Thanks al!"

Clapping his hands together he pressed them to the earth drawing a large thick tablet of stone which preventing a volley of gunfire heading his way. He held still behind his protection, the stone chipping off the ends easily. He could see the soldiers he fought alongside, wearing there uniforms charge forward into battle. Taking a quick peak around the corner he grinned placing his hands against the ground after another quick clap.

He listened when screams echoed in his ears and left his cover to see his enemy's impaled by stone spikes brought up from the ground, the victims blood running down the hard stone. He charged forward once again, his red jacket swaying behind him. He watched a comrade fall in front of him, a bullet in his head. Approaching one of his many enemy's he rolled off to the left to avoid his nameless opponents attempt to smack him with his gun and quickly sliced through his throat ending his misery quickly with spilt blood.

"Come and get me!" he charged off to the right to avoid the fire that hit the ground harmlessly behind him but soon changed directions and charged forward sliding under his opponent, his smaller size did come in handy..even if he would never admit it. Just as the shocked man turned he was slain by a quick stab to the heart.

He moved through there ranks with well trained agility, the many uniformed faces falling in a pool of there own blood in there resistance. The Full metal alchemist finally spotted the enemy general and smirked slightly "Well there you are"

The general scowled at him "Full metal, you should have joined Archer instead of the fool flame alchemist. But of course your a loyal little dog aren't you shorty?"

"Who are you calling a pest that can barely avoid being squashed under someones shoe!" Grunting the man moved his hand to show Ed the transmutation circle drawn into it "I never said that you tiny punk, get your hearing checked" Placing it on the ground he slowly drew it up, and along with it a giant war hammer "I'm going to enjoy crushing you!"

"Well you can try!" rushing forward he narrowly avoided a powerful swing of the hammer just barely moving off to the right as it impacted with the ground leaving a large indent. 'Quick for a muscle head' before he could counter the brute already was in a second swing.

Defending with his metal arm he heard a loud crack meaning some damage had been done to his arm in the impact. Leaping back he flexed his arm knowing he would have to get it repaired eventually, but for now it was fine "Looks like your toy hand isn't as effective as i was told kid!"

The man smirked with unclaimed victory, attempting once again to eliminate the full metal alchemist under his large hammer. Quickly Ed brought up a tablet of stone and like earlier it rose from the ground with a blue glow just in time for the large hammer to smash through.

Seeing a glimpse of a red coat in the dust of stone that was shot up the general smirked suddenly "Got you! Wait...what the hell!" As he drew his weapon back all that was there was the red coat hanging on the end "Hey big guy! Up here!" Looking up quickly the last thing he saw was the grinning teens face before a spear landed in his heart, the alchemist prodigy pushing off the corpse before it hit the ground, sliding along the dirt ground to avoid falling.

Picking his jacket up he pulled it back on while watching the enemy's full retreat with the fall of there so called commander. "Hey Ed!" Blinking he turned his golden eyes to see Kain Fury smiling as he ran up panting "Wow quite a battle you guys got in to..."

Looking around at the field of death and debris he nodded "Yeah i guess you could say that, so what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in central with mustang?" Nodding slightly the kind sergeant caught his breath for a moment "Mustang sent me to tell you to return to central, he has a new mission for you"

Al approached slowly, afraid he was interrupting only to find his brother grumbling "Hey brother what's wrong?" His child like voice caught Ed's attention. "Huh? Oh Al...Mustang is calling us back..AGAIN! I wish he could make up his dam mind on what he wants us to do!"

"Brother, it's alright...a-at least we get out of fighting for awhile..." Ed's look quickly changed to a more depressed feel "I'm...sorry Al...you shouldn't be involved in this..."

Shaking his metal head quickly Al brought his fists up in protest "No! I told you before i wasn't leaving you to fight alone, i know you don't like this anymore then me brother!" Smiling weakly Ed slowly nodded "Right...thanks al...well come on we shouldn't keep the colonel waiting, he can't seem to accomplish anything without us in charge of his plans!"

If the younger brother could smile through his metal body he would have, but instead simply followed Ed while he walked alongside fury.

* * *

They took the train in central even though fury recommended against it seeing as if Archer was tipped off about there traveling the train would surly be attacked, but even with the danger they insisted on taking the boring ride. Fury reluctantly came with them still wishing they had chosen the military car. 

Al watched his brothers bored stare out the window, 'Probably thinking about all the people he had killed in the war as he usually does'. He knew Ed disliked the things he had to do and because of that Al could never hate him, if it was his brothers choice he knew he would avoid bloodshed.

Hating the silence Fury looked over at ed for a moment "Hey you two have been doing really good lately...even if Mustang won't say it he appreciates your support..."

Just slightly adjusting the gaze of his eyes he continued to rest his head on the cold AutoMail arm he wore, since he knew it wouldn't get tired. "Yeah well he's the only one that actually wants to do something good with this damned place...who else would i go to...Archer and his corrupt officers? If i wasn't fighting i would end up hunted down anyway"

"I guess that's true..." Sighing slightly Kain was overjoyed when the train pulled into central station after the long ride with Doom and Gloom. "I have some things to take care of in the city I'll see you later" leaving the station fury gave a wave back at them.

Waving in return Ed smiled slightly his hands getting stuffed in his pockets "Been awhile since we have been back in central hasn't it?" Hearing the clank of metal he turned his head to the side to watch his brother come up beside him. "Yea...with all the fighting going on i really have missed it"

Smirking ed opened up his brothers chest plate and stuffed his bag inside it "Brother what are you doing!" Grinning he closed the plate "What? I was sick of carrying it...you got plenty of room!"

* * *

"I can't believe your turning me into your suitcase!" Ed had been listening to al's ranting through half of central "Relax will you! I need to keep my strength up" When his younger brother finally stopped complaining they walked in silence to the Military HQ, both ignoring the awkward glances Al got along the way, after all they were used to it by now. 

"Stop! This is for Military Personnel...oh Full metal!" Shaking his head slightly the alchemist simply walked past the guards 'tighter security lately i guess...i remember when you could practically just walk in without so much as a glance'

When he opened the door to Roy's office he simply took a seat "Hey Colonel Mustard, wait where's Riza?" Twitching slightly the flame alchemist looked up from his papers "For the last time it's mustang! And riza's part of the reason i called you back to central Full Metal"

"What are you talking about? Did something happen to Riza?" Groaning slightly Roy turned in his chair to look out the window "You could say that, she was with a small unit of soldiers traveling east. Someone who was able to escape the battle came directly here and reported her and several other soldiers were taken prisoner. Here is the list of the captives"

Looking over the list for a moment he came across a name he recognized "Sciezska? That's the name of the mousy girl...the one with the photographic memory" Nodding slowly Mustang turned back around looking towards Ed "Yes that's correct, strangely enough Archer isn't responsible. Some new alchemist has started a rebellion."

"Are you serious? Not only to we have to fight Archer but now we have to fight civilians to!" Sighing Mustang gave him another nod "Unfortunately yes...if...you don't want to do this i understand Ed, i won't make you..."

Looking back at his younger brother he smiled weakly at the small nod he received "Alright...what's the Mission Mustard" Groaning in frustration Roy was dieing to ignite the short teen on fire and watch him burn "I want you to gather a team of your choice, whether it be military or civilian and rescue as many of those on that list i gave you that you can"

'He isn't restricting me to just military men?' "Wait so i can choose anyone? Why are you granting me so much freedom on this mission?"

"It's simple really Ed, i don't want you to make a team in preparation of a war, this is a rescue mission not an assault. There may be certain skills you need in your team that the Military can not supply you with. The base is in the far east, and it may be a long trip since the train tracks leading that way were destroyed by the civilians. First you have to gather your team, and then you must walk"

"Walk? By the time we get there everyone will probably die from old age!" Groaning ed stood from his seat pushing back the golden braid of hair. "Fine, i guess i might as well get started then." He refused to respond to Mustangs Farewell as he handed him a letter declaring his ability to claim any Military member for his team and walked straight out of the Military headquarters.

"Hey brother? Who are we going to take with us...?" Sighing slightly he headed for the train station again "Not really sure on exactly everyone but i have a few ideas. First we are heading for the western lines to get are first two"

* * *

It was another quiet train ride resting in the uncomfortable seats. As expected it was almost empty seeing as few wanted to travel these days with the constant battles going on, it was to easy to get caught up in one. 

When the train pulled into a small town in the west Edward smiled slightly stepping off along with Al. "Well let's get started" nodding to his brother the two walked slowly through the entrenched town "Wow no wonder theres a rebellion, were using towns as bases now!"

Being escorted into a tent that seemed to have been quickly set up he met the commander of the towns forces, a stern looking man ready to do whatever it took to win the war "What can i help you with Mr. Elric, i'm sure nothing in this town is of your interest"

Crossing his arms the young alchemist couldn't help but grin "Were taking two of your soldiers off your hands, Sergeant Denny Brosh and Lieutenant Maria Ross"

He could already see the anger building in the commander through his eyes "By who's authority? you have no right to just come in here and ask me to hand over two of my officers" Sighing slightly Ed pulled out the letter he had been handed earlier that day and handed it over "Now will you be more cooperative?

Reading over the document several times he finally sighed in defeat "You!" the soldier who had originally escorted them visibly stiffened in fear "Y-yes sir!" Handing the letter back over to the alchemist the commander took a seat behind his small desk "Go call Mr. Brosh and Ms. Ross to my tent immediately" as soon as he had finished the soldier shuffled out of the tent.

"Hey Maria why do you think the commander wants to see us this time?" Sighing slightly Lieutenant Ross shook her head "How would i know?I swear if this is about another one of your mistakes-" She found herself unable to finish her sentence when she pushed aside the fabric containing the commanders office, spotting the golden head of hair.

"Hey why did you stop...Oh ed! It's been awhile! What on earth are you doing here though?" Pushing past Maria the laid back Sergeant grinned shaking the hand of the pipsqueak.

"Well i came to get you two actually, i thought both of you perfect for a little team i'm putting together" It was Maria's turn to push past her partner, stepping in front of ed "Team? what team?" Chuckling he looked over to see Denny now talking with Al after being shoved aside "Just a little one, for a rescue mission actually. If you guys want to come i would love to have you, it's been worked out with the commander...right?"

The commander grunted his protest but said nothing. "Well...sure we'll go won't we Denny?" At his eager nod she gave Ed a salute "We are at your command Mr. Elric"

Rubbing the back of his head he chuckled "No need for that...really no formalities needed. But we really need to get going, think you guys can pack and meet us at the train station?" He watched as almost immediately Maria dragged her teammate away to pack.

"Hey brother? who else did you have in mind to help out?" The Elric brothers walked slowly to the train station as ed went over a few of the people he had in mind, which included Winry even if he didn't want to get her in danger.

When the first two members of Ed's little tour group arrived packed and no longer dressed in military uniform they boarded the train and left for there next stop. Resembool.

* * *

A/N: Soooo? 


	2. An Unlucky Alchemist

A Land Divided in Three

Chapter 2: An unlucky alchemist

A/N: This and maybe one more chapter should be enough to conclude Ed's team. That's when the story should begin to pick up, oh and for anyone reading this story, sorry it took awhile. I wanted to see if anymore support would roll in. Sorry if there are grammer problems or anything of the sort.

* * *

"I'm really getting sick of trains…" Ed sighed slightly idly tapping his hand against the glass window, the first members of his team insisted on taking a separate car in order to reduce suspicion…but that's what he got for picking such a stern person like Maria Ross. "Its better then walking though…even if it is a little quiet these days." A low meow was heard, the metal form of al instantly stiffening when his brothers stern face turned towards him.

"Al I better not is hearing a cat coming from you." When his brother started inching away from him he lunged at him "Give me that cat al!" The entire train shook while the elrics fought amongst themselves not even noticing the two men opening the compartment door dressed in red military uniform "Mr. Elric" The brothers froze in there places almost instantly, the small brown cat dashing out the open door to escape the noise "What the hell do you bozos want?"

"Ed be nice!" waving his hand dismissively towards his brother as he watched the two men suspiciously allow there guns to show. "CommanderFrank Archerwould like you to immediately head for riol for a small…chat" When ed showed no interest in accepting there offer they both let out a small sigh pulling out there guns quickly "Don't try that alchemy crap, these are armor piercing bullets, more then capable of going through armor or that auto mail"

Sitting back down in his seat Ed sighed, either they would be kidnapped or there team would save them. He couldn't have been more off in terms of what would happen "So what, you're going to kill me? Or kidnap me maybe? Does archer need support that bad?" moving towards him one of the officers glared "Don't you dare talk about commander archer in such disrespect!" Attempting a punch he stopped in mid swing when a large suitcase popped open revealing Major Armstrong.

Staring with wide eyes and mouth open Ed watched asthe oversixed alchemistflexed his muscles, the iron knuckles attached to his hands sending one flying while the second dropped to the ground in fear "You dare attempt to strike at one of the amazing Elric brothers! Children are the future of this world, and as one of the famous Armstrong line it is my sacred duty to protect them from harm!" Flexing his muscles a second time small pink sparkles surrounded his head.

"How the hell did you even fit in that suitcase! You're more then twice its size god damit!" Picking up the still conscious lackey of archer, Armstrong kindly stuffed him in the same suitcase that had held the good major "Those of the Armstrong family have many talents! When mustang ordered me to protect you on your important mission I knew I must be as secretive as possible in order to surprise these common thugs!" It was about now Ross stormed in, slightly disappointed in herself that she failed to take down the thugs herself, but settled for tying up the one still outside a suitcase. The audible yells of one could be heard from inside the luggage, screaming about how it smelt like sweat.

* * *

(Train station) 

Leaving the soldiers in the train to be foundat another time, there still small team now one member larger stepped off into the cool summer breeze ofed's home town, a place he would always love the scenery in. "Brother, are we really going to take winry along on the mission…" Nodding slowly he told his three military friends to stay at the local inn, since he would spend the night over at pinakos with auto mail repairs "I don't have a choice al…if I need repairs during the mission I can't just come back here. I don't want to put her in any danger…but if she doesn't want to go I won't push her, so don't worry!"

Lugging his bag over his shoulder, Ed sighed "Hey look there it-"Clunk "What's the big-"Clunk "Ow stop-"Clunk. Three wrenches hurled in perfect intervals collided with his head, causing him to fall over, three throbbing bumps on his forehead and somehow no blood. "That's for not even sending a dam letter in four months Edward! I went easy on you!" The blond huffed her annoyance crossing her arms before blowing one of her bangs out of her eyes. "Now come inside so I can see what kind of damage I need to fix now"

Helping his abused brother up, al had to hold back the smallest chuckle from the way winry treated him. It was obvious to almost anyone that she liked him, except Ed of course who kept all sense of happy emotions locked away until needed. They made there way into the old house,and as always it was the same besides for the smallestchanges.No matter what, for the elrics it was a hidden sanctuary where they could be themselves away from wars.

Sitting in an old rocking chair pinako smirked from behind her pipe "Well if it isn't the shortest alchemist" Twitching Ed glared at her "Hey! Who are you calling a boy so short he can fit between the grates of a vent?" Laughing for a moment the old woman put aside her pipe "Honestly ed, some of the things you come up with. Winrys down stairs, come on al let's go shopping" She left with the metal body trailing close behind.

"Stupid hag…I'll show her one day, I'll be like 7 feet tall! And then she will regret it, and I can laugh and laugh…oh who am I kidding. I'm dam short!" Heading down into the basement, which also served as Winrys workshop he placed his bag down, smiling sheepishly towards her stern face. "Hold out your arm Edward…" Hesitating a moment he did as she requested, pulling back the sleeve which revealed a huge dent in the architecture, and of course the few gears and screws that were popping out. "Um…I can explain, see this really big guy tried to kill me, and he had this gigantic war hammer. And the only way to not get crushed was to block with the arm and uh…"

That defiantly didn't seem to help things as her anger built and built "You used MY auto mail that I made with all my ability to block a WAR HAMMER! Do you have any idea how much one of those weighs! Did you think even MY auto mail could block such a thing! It could, but I have to know a head of time Ed, why do you do this to me!" In truth she was very glad her auto mail had saved his life, even if it did take some damage. Every time he came back to her she spent her time and effort, and usually her nights working and putting together the perfect auto mail with all her love and care just for him. She didn'tdo anything of the sort for regular customers, but he would always be way to dense and preoccupied to notice…didn't mean she couldn't wait right?

"I'm really sorry win! I couldn't help it you know? I have a lot of stuff to do and obligations…but I brought you a present!" This seemed to calm her down slightly, his slightly nervous stare watching her face twist from anger, to confusion, and finally curiosity. "A present…ed…you bought a present for me?" She wiped her eyes with the excuse she needed to get some oil off her face "Alright let's see it then"

Digging through his bag quickly he pulled out a new shiny wrench, on the side was her name. "The guy I ordered it from said it had like 16 different features and you could customize the size or something…I didn't really understand it but it sounded kind of cool. I had to special order one to get the name though" Now a wrench wouldn't be considered a great present in most cases, but a wrench to winry was better then gold. And just the fact Ed had bought her anything made it seem like a diamond.

After several long moments of silence she finally snatched the wrench from his hands, turning her back to him to stare at it with a gleam in her eyes. It really was a nice wrench, and it must have costed a lot since it had all kinds of adoptability. Actually it beat any wrench she had by a long shot, they barley made enough to buy food since they gave ed free auto mail and the military only paid a percentage of it, so she rarely had money for high end equipment. Even when Ed let her have a shopping spree on the militaries dime, she still tried to stay with basic needs and a few extras so as to not be a burden on him. "Well…uh it's alright…I guess I'm not that mad at you then…"

Sighing slowly she turned back to Ed trying her best not to look ecstatic about her gift, and simply remain neutral. "Well let's see what I can do about this arm…let me guess, a rush job right?" He nodded slowly, and after telling her he wanted it over night she thought about hitting him with the wrench he gave her. After studying the damage to his arm she discovered it wasn't too bad, it really only needed a new frame a few adjustments and parts "Alright I can have it over night…"

"Um…there's one more thing Win…I was wondering if you would consider coming on my next mission with me. I can't give you the details yet, but um if I need repairs I can't come back…" He didn't have to continue since winry had practically cut him off to accept the offer. She had wished she could join him on countless occasions, just to make sure he took care of himself, but anytime she asked he would simply say it was to dangerous.

* * *

When al returned from the market he found an unusually excited winry, and Ed was still alive lying on the couch in the living room "Brother did you ask her yet?" Turning his head towards al he shook his temporary replacement arm "Yeah, she wants to come with us. So we will head to Aquroya next, it should still be above water" 

"Aquroya? Who are we going to recruit there…I don't remember you mentioning anyone there. Is it that inspector we met? Wait you don't mean…" With a smirk ed nodded, sitting up on the couch "That's right, we are going to pay Clara a little visit and see if she will lend us her card tricks" he still remembered that thief and her tricks, oh he remembered that adventure well. His first encounter with a woman for an enemy, and he finally captured her even if she did trick him a few times. He wondered if that letter he got would be enough to get her out of jail, if she didn't escape that is.

The brothers heard the old woman call them for dinner, and al was blown away when Ed flew by to his seat at the table. Followed shortly by al, who although couldn't eat just wanting to be around company, to keep memories alive. As Ed immediately begin digging into his food the younger brother sighed "Pinako, are you sure winry should come with us…your going to let her?"

"Of course I don't want her to go, but she's more stubborn then Edward here. That and she's already packing five suitcases. Besides its hard enough watching your granddaughter sleeping by the window waiting for you two to come back" The fork in Ed's mouth stopped for a moment before he mumbled through the food "Winry sleeps by the window?"

There conversation was quickly drowned out by the mechanic herself "Hey! I'm downstairs packing things, and you people go and start dinner without me!" As her favorite alchemist tried to explain through his still full mouth she sat down glaring over at him, but lucky for him she was still excited about the present he gave her "Oh shut that mouth and chew will you?"

* * *

(Next morning) 

"Brother come on! Wake up Ed! We're going to miss the train!" Al had tried for the last hour to get him up, but unfortunately due to Winrys rush job, she had him up till three in the morning finishing, and reconnecting his arm. With only six hours sleep he simply rolled around and grunted at every attempt to wake him…that was until winry came in. "What's taking so long!"

"Ed won't get up, he just keeps trying to sleep more" He watched in pure amusement when winry dragged him out of bed, fought with him to let go of the pillow, rolled around on the ground practically wrestling over the pillow, and end in an awkward position causing them to both blush a bright red and scatter to opposite ends of the room "Ok ok I'm up!"

Forced downstairs the slumping alchemist grumbled the whole way, pulling on his red coat slowly he tripped over the 6 large bags at the bottom of the stairs, landing face first in the floor "Ow! What's with all these bags! Winry please tell me you don't plan to bring all this!" Staring at him innocently she smiled "Of course I am Ed, it could be a long trip so I packed a bunch of clothes and other things. I needed three bags for auto mail parts; you never know what kind of damage you will cause to it after all. So come on, if you two can lug it to the station I'm sure Armstrong can handle most of it. You said he was coming right?"

With no small amount of complaints Ed stuffed two bags into al's chest plate, lugged one on his back and one in his hands. Al carried the fifth under his arm, and winry happily carried the smallest and lightest bag. "You're going to be the death of me winry!" refusing to respond to him she walked by him waving her hand "Come on boys, we don't want to be late"

Maria Ross tapped her foot impatiently while staring at her watch "They tell us to meet them at 9, and there a half hour late. Not only that the train is getting ready to leave" Kicking the bench, the tired Denny jumped up from his nap "Aw come on, stop pestering me. I'm here aren't I?" looking out towards the small town he slowly raised his finger "Isn't that them…? Dragging those bags?"

Armstrong smiled with a loud laugh "Look how strong the young elrics have gotten! Carrying such big luggage for a woman like that!" Tears streamed down the giants face "They make me so proud!" His speech didn't impress Ed, the young alchemist quickly yelling for them to come take some of the weight off him and his metal brother.

* * *

A/N: Yes look, armstrong can be more wierd then he usually is. Thanks to me atleast, anyway review if you can. Might motivate me to actually update in a good amount of time. 


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